Portsmouth councilors deny 'back-room deal'

Former mayor critical of chatter during recess

PORTSMOUTH — Several city councilors are defending a back hallway conversation they had during a brief recess at last week's City Council meeting against allegations made by fellow councilor Eric Spear that the discussion violated the state Right to Know law.

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By Jeff McMenemy

seacoastonline.com

By Jeff McMenemy

Posted Apr. 15, 2014 at 2:00 AM

By Jeff McMenemy

Posted Apr. 15, 2014 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

PORTSMOUTH — Several city councilors are defending a back hallway conversation they had during a brief recess at last week's City Council meeting against allegations made by fellow councilor Eric Spear that the discussion violated the state Right to Know law.

"I'm not bothered by what happened Monday night," City Councilor Brad Lown said last week.

Lown said he talked to Mayor Bob Lister, Assistant Mayor Jim Splaine and City Councilor Zelita Morgan in the back hallway "urging them to do something that was fair to HarborCorp."

"I think something positive came out of the private conversation. I don't consider it a violation of the Right to Know law," Lown said, noting the group was only four people and five would have been necessary for the conversation to constitute a quorum.

Lister, who declined to comment on the issue after last night's City Council work session, called for the recess during the April 7 council meeting. He did so shortly after the council initially refused to suspend the rules so Lown could introduce an amendment that would exempt HarborCorp's mixed-use development from the council's repeal of the city's conditional-use permit.

The council later that evening voted to exempt the proposed development, which calls for a Whole Foods Market grocery store, a conference center and a parking garage.

The council took the recess after City Councilor Stefany Shaheen said she was "astonished" by the council's vote not to even discuss the amendment.

"I think at least with the mayor and the assistant mayor, they were troubled by their previous vote," Lown said.

City Attorney Bob Sullivan declined to comment on the issue when reached last week, except to say that "all the members of the council are aware of their responsibilities under the Right to Know law."

Spear, while acknowledging he is happy that the HarborCorp project is moving forward, said the decision by Lister to call a recess and then have discussions with at least a few other councilors should be "very disturbing for anyone who values transparency and the Right to Know law."

Spear, formerly the city's mayor, said those discussions during the middle of what should have been a public debate violated the spirit of the Right to Know law.

"The mayor calls another recess and half the council goes into the back room to work out some kind of deal," Spear said last week. "The only thing missing from this scene is the cigars for the back-room deal."

Splaine, the city's assistant mayor and a longtime city official, said the councilors spoke one-on-one but there was no back-room deal involved.

He noted that the council has had several debates on the repeal of the conditional-use permit and that "we debated Brad Lown's motions."

"I'm offended when a city councilor suggests there was a back-room deal. It just did not happen," Splaine said.

He said the council recessed because there had been several motions and he thought the process was getting confusing.

"It's really frustrating when you work to reach a compromise and then you have somebody ... talking about cigar-filled rooms," Splaine said.

Spear said he doesn't think the incident warrants a re-vote or a formal complaint.